Sample Scholarship Essays

Sample Scholarship Essays

It is always a good idea to read through sample scholarship essays before you start to write your own. By taking a look at what has worked earlier you are more likely to hit on that magic formula.

Past winners indicate future success

Glancing through well written papers that have accomplished their goal will give you a fair idea of what works and what doesn’t. Pay special attention on as to how these winning sample scholarship essays have been presented and crafted. This should give you a fair idea of the required style, points and format. While reading sample scholarship essays ask yourself:

What kind of thesis statement have they employed?

Have they used a heavily researched format?

Are these winning sample scholarship essays written in the first person?

Follow the instructions

Each scholarship application comes along with a list of directions. These directions are pointers towards what you should write and what the scholarship committee is looking for. Strict adherence to the directions will ensure that your scholarship essay is properly considered for the final round.

If your essay directions stipulate an essay of 200 words or less do not respond with a five page essay. If you overshoot the word limit then you are already out of the race.

If a layout is not specified

In the absence of some layout specifications here are some best practices to follow:

Write an essay that conforms to the professional letter writing format

Use double spacing as this will make your essay more reader friendly

Use extra space between paras.

Create a title page for indicating your name and contact information-(If the scholarship judges want to keep your name a secret-they can ignore the title page).

Write in a 12-point standard font like Times New Roman or Arial.

Ensure a good format with 1" margins on all sides and make sure that you justify the text.

Follow the norm

Notice how most sample scholarship essays begin with an introductory paragraph that prepares the reader for what he/she is going to read. Follow this with body paragraphs that will expand on the essay's theme, and conclude with a paragraph that ties up any loose ends.

When you have completed your essay run it past a friend or mentor and guide for typos and other grammatical errors. Aim for perfection and you cannot go wrong.